Under Pressure..

.. I know, bear with me. Just bought the 'Nothing Has Changed' Bowie compilation. The breakdown on it regarding UP and who contributes what is thus:

Lead Vocals: FM

Lead and backing vocals, Keyboards, Piano, Saxophone: DB

Piano: David Richards

So Freddie contributed voice ONLY? No piano? DB played Saxophone?!

(Other members are as you would expect)

Sounds about right to me. As far as I see it, it's a Bowie track that Queen featured on.

The germ of the idea was collective, but Bowie was the overwhelming creative force.

Did it mention that David had to leave the control room while Reinhold was mixing the track ? :) :) :)

"...sniff....sniff...ssssssniff"

Bowie also took the trombone solo and the lead xylophone. And if both he and David Richards played piano on the track, does that mean Bowie played the one chord and Richards the other?

Can anyone point out the saxophone?

[QUOTE] [b]mooghead wrote:[/b]

Can anyone point out the saxophone?[/QUOTE]

It is well buried in the mix. Try the Rockband stems. It is quite hard to explain, but have a listen from "It's the terror of knowing..." onwards. The saxophone is the screeching sound in the background which sounds as if it's almost out of tune. :)

It wouldn't be the first or last time Freddie's a major creative force on a song which doesn't feature him playing any instrument: 'Great King Rat', 'Liar', 'Ogre Battle', 'Stone Cold Crazy', all of 'Barcelona'...

What about the demo knows as Feel Like? That is 100% Queen and it features the main melody of Under Pressure.
BTW, such a relief that they buried the saxophone on the final mix. Horrible instrument.

/ Wenhey! - well said, - I have a lifelong, pathological hatred of that instrument.

Ever since we got the stems of UP, I wanted to post a thread positing that Bowie played sax and piano on it, and I don't know why I didn't.

Hearing the piano in isolation made it clear that it wasn't Fred (or Bri) playing, as the style just wasn't his. And I was always of the opinion that it was Bowie playing piano on Feel Like, as that was clearly a live jam featuring five people, that was the germ of UP. Ergo, it was most likely to be DB playing the piano.

I was partly wrong, as we later had it confirmed that it was in fact David Richards playing piano on UP, and DB playing piano on FL, but it's nice to know my suspicions about the sax were correct.

There are two pianos on UP: the one doing the motif and the one playing chords. It makes sense that Richards played one and Bowie the other.

As for other keyboards, there's an organ and one or two synth parts. Anyone could've played any of them.

[QUOTE] [b]The Real Wizard wrote:[/b]

As far as I see it, it's a Bowie track that Queen featured on.
[/QUOTE]

I'd disagree with that. It was recorded at a Queen studio during sessions for a Queen album, featuring Queen's producer/engineer and included on a Queen LP. The final mix was chiefly produced by Freddie and resulted from a compromise between three people, two of which were Queen people (Freddie and Mack).

Had it actually been 'a Bowie track that Queen featured on,' it would've been produced by Nile Rogers or Tony Visconti instead of Mack, included on 'Let's Dance' instead of 'Hot Space', engineered by Bob Clearmountain instead of David Richards, and guest performers would've been people like Rob Sabino, Roy Bittan or Andy Clark instead of David Richards. David Richards had worked with Bowie but he was, at the time, a Queen man through and through (to the point he was Roger's keyboardist).

It wasn't 'a Queen track that Bowie featured on' either, since he did write most of the lyrics, he came up with the bass-line (according to the one-year-old recollection by the man who actually recorded it, instead of a three-decade-old recollection by a man who didn't), he played keyboards and sax, he was one of the chief producers and the song was ultimately finished at the studios Bowie had been using most often at the time (from 1980 to 1983, before he temporarily settled in Canada).

Of course you're right on those levels.

But Bowie was still a stronger force than three of the members of Queen. There's something to be said for that.

And not that it matters - but in popular culture as well (at least in North America), I find that far more people are aware of it as a Bowie song.

Even though at the time Under Pressure was released Bowie hadnt been in the US top 40 for the previous 5 years and Queen were coming off the back of 2 number 1 singles and a number 2 album in the last year and a bit? That would suggest the US publics awareness of Queen was at an absolute peak when the single came out.

[QUOTE] [b]master marathon runner wrote:[/b]

/ Wenhey! - well said, - I have a lifelong, pathological hatred of that instrument.[/QUOTE]

Open up about it ;)

I mean I `ve heard weird things about those british youth tent camps...but a complete saxophone...are you serious ?

[QUOTE] [b]AlbaNo1 wrote:[/b]

Even though at the time Under Pressure was released Bowie hadnt been in the US top 40 for the previous 5 years and Queen were coming off the back of 2 number 1 singles and a number 2 album in the last year and a bit? That would suggest the US publics awareness of Queen was at an absolute peak when the single came out.

[/QUOTE]


Absolutely - in the US at that time, Queen were very much the hotter act, with the likes of Michael Jackson wanting to work with Freddie too.